Amidst the middle of a 27-game losing streak, the Detroit Pistons are massive underdogs against the Boston Celtics on the road this evening.

The Detroit Pistons are not just bad, but historically bad. After their 27th loss against the Brooklyn Nets, guard Cade Cunningham shared a message to the team. Only in his third season in the NBA, it was a difficult, yet necessary statement.

"Don't jump off the boat, we have got to stay together, said Cunningham post game. We need to continue to lean on each other and continue to push each other, hold each other accountable more than ever now."

Will the 27-game losing streak end tonight? 🤔

Are you riding with the Pistons? pic.twitter.com/8U4M8ldJb5

— ESPN BET (@ESPNBet) December 28, 2023

Contrary to their record, Detroit has a fairly youthful roster, in which many deserve more minutes of playing time. While the Celtics remain undefeated at home, the Pistons are massive underdogs. Heading into tonight's matchup, the C's hold the largest spread of any game this season, in which they are favored by 17.5 points. With a record of 2-28, according to Darren Hartwell of Yahoo Sports, Detroit has just nine wins since the start of 2023, and 13 of their losses have come by single digits.

Speaking of the spread, it's quite massive, and stands as the largest margin of the 2023-2024 season. For Boston, the most they've been favored has been by 12.5 points, both against the Memphis Grizzlies and the Chicago Bulls. The final result? Memphis covered against Boston. In what was an extremely controversial matchup, the Celtics covered the 12.5 spread versus the Bulls, which was a do or die In-Season Tournament game. With point differential in play, Boston accomplished the task of defeating Chicago by 23 points or more.

Overall, the Celtics are 4-4-1 against a point differential larger than 10. For the Pistons, they are 11-19-0 against the spread, despite losing as many games in a row as they have. When the underdog by 10 or more points, Detroit has a record of 3-4 against the spread. In fact, most recent, they couldn't cover colossal spreads against the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers. Besides tonights matchup, the largest spread they've faced as underdogs was 16.5 points against Milwaukee.

Here’s #Pistons head coach Monty Williams on trying to strike a balance with his rotations to maximize the first and second units.

He talked about the importance of not leaving too many members of the latter out there by themselves. pic.twitter.com/c3sUQ4X5Nz

— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) December 28, 2023

Recently making history with the longest losing streak in the NBA, the Pistons are now chasing the wrong side of history. There four major sports in the United States, Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL). While we've seen some terrible teams record wise over the years, the Pistons are on the brink of shattering several historical records.

When it comes to the four major sports, we quickly remember the historic downfall of several Detroit organizations. With or without a loss tonight, the Pistons join the 2008 Detroit Lions, 2020 Red Wings, among several other teams who had a miserable losing season. With a loss against the Boston Celtics tonight, this team will be one step closing to owning the worst losing streak in the 21st century in all core four sports, excluding NCAA basketball and football. Luckily for Detroit, the Lions just claimed themselves the Kings of the NFC North for the first time in 30 years.

The Philadelphia 76ers currently hold the record for most consecutive defeats with 28, dating back to consecutive seasons, and the Pistons are just one game away from tying that record. With just two wins on the season, they projected to win just six games this year. If that's the case, that would be the worst finish in the history of the NBA. While their trajectory is rather bleak, the team still holds hope.

For a time, I was excited for the Pistons. Drafting Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren seemed like a brilliant move. After selecting Ausar Thompson 5th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft, there seemed to be a sense of hope for Detroit sports again. Coming of a 17-65 season last year, Detroit hasn't won an NBA Championship in almost 20 years. While the team has been absymal, especially in the month if November, they have young core pieces. With Cunningham leaving it all on the table, Duren and Ivey should certainly earn some increased playing time.

The Odds and Betting Lines for Tonights Game

As for a betting standpoint, a 17.5 point spread margin is something you don't see everyday. For the Pistons, they are primarily healthy, with the exception of Monte Morris and Isaiah Stewart, who are both ruled out. For Boston, Jaylen Brown was named the only player ruled out for tonights meeting with a lower back contusion. With the Pistons originally underdogs at 18.5 points, while it's possible, they have their backs against the wall. At 23-6, the Celtics own the NBAs best record, including a 14-0 win loss record at the TD Garden.

While the Celtics haven't taken their foot off the gas just yet, there's hope for Detroit. With 39 percent of bettors wagering on Detroit's money line, we can't forget when the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves as 19.5 point underdogs last season. As far as the money line goes, the line currently stands at -1450, with the Boston heavily favored. With a line so high, it's a very high risk, low reward circumstance. Basically for any sort of return, bettors would have to wager a large number of units, which is extremely risky. For example, you would have to risk $1000 for a $68 profit. If you're looking to bet tonight, I rather put a percentage of my bankroll on the Detroit Pistons as insurance. At +850, just $5 could result in a $42 profit.

While I'm rooting for the Pistons to turn things around, they currently have the second worst point differential (-11.5), next to the San Antonio Spurs (-12.3). With Boston chasing banner number 18, they rank 2nd in the league in point differential (+10.2), and head coach Joe Mazzulla hasn't let up on the gas in any given game.

As for the Celtics, tonight will an ordinary matchup. Veteran Al Horford gave some insight, stating "there's nothing different. We know what we have to do"

"There's nothing different. We know what we have to do"

Al Horford on the C's mindset heading into their matchup with the Pistons, who've lost 27 straight games 😤#DifferentHere pic.twitter.com/O6DUkZJQWJ

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) December 28, 2023

Tonight is a matchup of purely the best team in the league versus a team that's close to becoming one of the worst teams ever in NBA history. Detroit Pistons money line currently is the most popular straight bet on ESPN BET.

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Sara Jane Gamelli is a full-time Sportswriter at Ballislife, and Sports Content Creator on Twitch and TikTok. She has a focus on the NBA, WNBA, NCAA Basketball, and the NFL. Sara Jane currently resides in Connecticut/NYC area with her Cat and Dog. SJ has her undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut in Economics, with a minor in business administration.

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